War Veteran Nick Avery Needs Our Help!

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Nick is living in the Eisenhower Center and is loving being in his enviroment. A fundraiser on March 8th raised enough funds to keep Nick there for a few months. I pray that his treatment will finally get covered so we will no longer have to do fundraisers. Nick’s happiness and recovery is what is important. To give up is not an option because Nick has not given up. “Will Nick ever get better” is the question asked so often. The answer is, we do not know. We have faith, hope and trust that Nick can make a recovery but it is not our choice whether he does or not. Our faith in God tells us that “All things are possible…” So we hope, we pray, we believe in miracles. God is our guide and we must trust him. Does that wean we wait for him to “save” Nick and do nothing??? Absolutely not. The parable where a man is sitting on his roof while the flood waters are all around him praying for God to “save” him and then turning down 3 boats that have gone by with a person who yells out, “I have room in my boat, come down and I will take you to safety”. The man on the roof turns down the offer all three times. Eventually he drowns, goes to heaven and asks God why he did not save him? In a moment God replies, “Well I tried, I sent three boats to save you and you turned each one down”. That is why we fight so hard for Nick. We believe that God can heal Nick, but we do not wait on the roof when there are options for him. It is not our place to limit what can be done. As a nurse, I know what the outcome should be for Nick, but I have seen miracles in my time as a nurse that defies all understanding. Can a miracle happen for Nick? ABSOLUTELY!!!! Will God heal Nick? Yes he will. How he heals Nick is the question I do not know. Thank you everyone for supporting Nick and his endevour to heal.
Nick continues to fight so we continue to fight for him. So many doors have opened up that cannot be explained that we cannot give up hope.
We still pray, we hope and we believe.

Hello my friends! Nick’s family is looking into ways to raise funds for Nick’s rehab and care at the Eisenhower Center as the VA has pulled the plug. I no longer have time to fight with them for coverage of Nick’s care and Nick needs the care as well as the rehab, sooooo…… We are looking into different ways to raise funds, (i.e.) Benefit dinner, t-shirts if you donate, future run, etc…. so please be on the lookout for a future benefit to take place. I will keep you all posted on dates, times, location. Nick does receive disability from the military, but it is not enough to cover all his cost, this is why the need for fundraising. All proceeds will go into helping Nick and his goal in “getting my brain back” as he has said so many times.

We are looking at getting him seen by a physician outside the VA realm for a second opinion and maybe more clarification on the route needed for Nick’s care and treatment. I find the fact that we have to go outside the “system” in order to find care, treatment, and support, absolutely dumbfounding as it is clear to me that if a person serves their country and sacrifices “ALL”, they surley deserve to be taken care of in a quality fashion and not over medicated, left in a nursing home with no stimulation to rot away, and clearly receive the best care possible. Do you not agree? Nick and other the other soilders deserve being treated with respect, honor, and dignity. Nick, in a lot of ways has not. Yes, there are those who have supported him and us that are in the system, but they are only a few amongst many. Thank God for those who have had the compassion to help us “Fight 4 Nick”.

So please stay tuned as we will be announcing information soon on fundraising events. Thank you all for supporting Nick, it means so much to him and his family. Nick is updated frequently on what is happening for him behind the scene. In Nick’s own words, “Oh really? That’s good.”

Nick is improving at the Eisenhower Center and he loves it there. Miracles do happen all the time. We will not allow those negative seeds to be planted. How many times have we all heard of this person being “diagnosed” with a terminal diagnosis only to later have the Doctors scratching their heads because what they thought was a terminal disease has suddenly disappeared! Nick’s family chooses to believe that a miracle is taking place and that Nick is going to be witness to that.

Today at Nick’s monthly team meeting, it was noted by all his team members how Nick is improving. They are not giving up, why should we?

We were told that the Eisenhower is going to tell us what we want to hear to keep Nick there because the Eisenhower was getting money off of Nick. Well, I am here to say, that there is a waiting list to get into the center, matter of fact, a person has to be accepted into their program. When one person leaves the center, another person is accepted into their program. So, it really does not matter if Nick is there or not. The Eisenhower Center staff believes in Nick and the fact that Nick is “in there”. We believe too.

Nick and my folks (along with staff from Eisenhower) went to Dr. Rubin’s office to check out the hyperbaric chamber and see the office. Well……Dr. Rubin told Nick “let’s start you out on a treatment today” Nick was given an anti-anxiety med and sat in the chamber for a whole hour! THIS is an AMAZING thing for Nick as he has minimal understanding and patience to sit still. Fortunately, there is speakers in the chamber so you can talk to him. My folks were able to talk with him and keep him calm the whole time. We are praying and believing that this will help his brain beable to regenerate and form new pathways for Nick. Miracles happen all the time and who am I or who are the doctors to say that Nick cannot get better. I believe in miracles and I am a nurse! Looking forward to bigger and better things for Nick!

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! A Doctor in the Ann Arbor area has agreed to treat Nick with hyperbaric treatments! Here is the kicker, he will NOT accept any payments and is going to donate 60 treatments to Nick! His request was for the Eisenhower to document before and after treatments to see if there is any improvements in Nick. I am dumb founded, ecstatic, humbled, and over joyed! I see rainbows and unicorns! Miracles do happen!
Now to figure out the details, as the “dives” are an hour long and Nick would be in a complete chamber. Hmmm…..looks like many trips to Ann Arbor in my near future. Hey, if I can get in the shower to clean him, I can help with this too. I am just greatful that someone is willing to do this for Nick, but to donate 60 services without wanting payment is amazing. No one ever does anything for free, right? Well this doctor is and we are eternally grateful. The treatments have not started yet, so I am kinda holding my breath as the rug has been pulled out from under us so many times, but I am very hopeful that this good doctor will come through for Nick. I will update when the first treatment begins!

Okay, so apparently Nick’s care has over stretched the budget of our local VA and due to the fact that he has “dementia” listed in one of his many many false diagnosis, we are now in a “battle” to get Nick’s care paid for. I have been told that we could move Nick once again to a facility that would be closer to me, his guardian, BUT is that really in Nick’s best interest? The Eisenhower Center has a phenomenal reputation in helping those with TBI and take patient’s from all over the country, not just here in Michigan. Matter of fact, a person has to be accepted into the facility. Yes, this means there is a waiting list to get into the Eisenhower Center. So, why on earth would we have Nick moved (yet once again) to a new facility? Nick has been moved around too much as it is. Why would we take him OUT of a facility that has a strong reputation for helping those with a TBI (Nick has has 5 at least)? Uh, we are not THAT naive. NO, Nick stays right were he is and yes, for all the sacrifice he and his family has given for this great country of ours, it WILL be covered!

Nick is thriving at Eisenhower. He is becoming less incontinent to where he is dry all day and maybe an accident at night, HUGE improvement. Nick is feeding himself with less intervention, Nick’s speech is improving, the list goes on. Funny, if he had dementia, wouldn’t he be getting worse and not better? Hey, what do I know, right?! Well, Nick IS improving and he does NOT have dementia.
Bottom line, Nick’s care needs to be covered and we are helping with that BUT not all of it.

Nick suffered the TBI injuries from the war, so I think it is fair to say his care should be covered by the government, right? Seems like an obvious solution to our problem. Yet this is not a wound you can see, this is a wound deep within, along with the PTSD he that he has. I for one am tired of having my brother thrown out with the daily “garbage“. I want to continue the positive progress Nick is working towards. No more of this “Accept your brother is dying and go home a grief for him” mentality that has been fed to his family. Nick is NOT dying, he is thriving! he loves it at the Eisenhower and wants to stay. So, we will make that happen for him.

The smile you see, in this photo of Nick holding his son Storm, is returning and I want to see that continue. Nick deserves that.

So come on! We need NATIONAL attention to continue this battle for Nick’s care! The government needs to know, “We have a soilder who is worth something here“